Tender Care
by Horologii
Summary: Naruto cringed away from him, frightened and lost. His dull cerulean eyes stared at him, wide with fear. The blonde pushed himself flatter against the wall, shaking. Sasuke reached out a hand, “Naruto….” [Sasu x Naru] [slight romance oneshot]


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**Tender Care**

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**Pairing:** Sasuke x Naruto

**Warning:** Shounen ai

**Summary: **Naruto cringed away from him, frightened and lost. His dull cerulean eyes stared at him, wide with fear. The blonde pushed himself flatter against the wall, shaking. Sasuke reached out a hand, "Naruto…." Sasu x Naru slight romance one-shot

**Inspired by: **while writing about two OCs' and having some sad thoughts.

_Please forgive my bad usages of Japanese terms; I don't speak the language so I have almost no idea how to use them. _

_Disclaimer: Naruto and anything related does not belong to me. Don't sue. _

"talking" 'thinking'

**(This is my first try at a one shot) **_This fanfic takes place around the same time as the anime_

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Sasuke Uchiha gently kicked the door closed with his foot, careful to not make any sudden or loud noises. His shoes went flying in the air and landed on the carpet with a muffled sound. He carried two big bags of groceries to the fridge and proceeded to pack everything away.

A small rustle came from behind him and the child prodigy sighed. He ran his hand through his raven black hair and turned, staring Naruto right in the eye. The blonde stiffened as his nose twitched, sniffing the air for any danger. He sat on all fours on the ground, gazing at Sasuke innocently with those now dull blue eyes.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, his sunny bright hair flopping messily. Sasuke's fingers ached to touch those golden locks, but he refrained himself and clasped his hands behind his back. Tsunade warned against any sudden movements. The Uchiha gave a forced smile to Naruto and the blonde turned back into the room, walking unsteadily on all fours.

Sasuke slowly removed his head band and laid it on the kitchen table. He did the same with most of his weapons. The Hokage-sama had told him that even in his state; Naruto can still recognize a shuriken and kunai. It was best to face the blonde without them.

The raven haired boy made his way carefully, towards the bedroom where Naruto was probably curled up on the bed. Sasuke made sure the kitsune could hear him coming.

Sure enough, when the Uchiha nudged open the door he found the blonde sleeping on the bed. He was curled into a tight ball of orange, with his sunny bright hair shining in the light of the sun set. Sasuke watched his chest move peacefully up and down before moving forward.

Sasuke sat down gently on the bed, Naruto stiffened again and cerulean eyes came to look into onyx black ones. The blonde raised his sunny bright head a little higher, so that now his twitching nose and whiskered cheeks are visible. Naruto gazed at Sasuke and let his head reach over to rest near the Uchiha's lap.

Slowly, Sasuke rested his hand on Naruto's soft golden hair. He ran his fingers slowly through the sun tanned strands of spiked locks. A purr floated in the air, Naruto had closed his eyes and had now curled up against Sasuke. The child prodigy tried to keep the tears back as he listened to the reassuring sound coming from his lover.

Naruto was now fully human anymore. The Uchiha knew he had to accept that. And even if the blonde will eventually recover, he will never be the same Naruto again. Tsunade had tried her best to heal him, but the damage to his chakra was too deeply inflected. By the time the other jounins had managed to bring Naruto back, Kyuubi's chakra was already so absorbed by the blonde, it is impossible to separate the two now. The hard fact was that Naruto had been changed physically and mentally. He is mostly fox demon now and only some of the happy-go-lucky blonde that Sasuke knew. The Hokage-sama had said that if Naruto-'no' Sasuke decided, '_when Naruto'_-recovers he will still carry the characteristics of a fox demon all his life.

The villagers will tear up what's left of him inside when that happens. It is going to be worse than before, much worse than before the blonde had accepted his first Class A mission.

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Sasuke shifted through the drawers of the closet. Naruto was in the next room, sound asleep. Tsunade had said the blonde will need plenty of sleep, at least 20 hours every day if he is going to recover quickly. Sasuke pulled out an old kunai wrapped in a silk handkerchief and a photo. His grip tightened on the kunai as he walked towards the bedroom.

Tsunade had told Sasuke that if he brought meaningful things to show Naruto, it might help him become mostly human once more. Or at least regain control of his mind. Sasuke again nudged the door open. It swung open slowly without a sound. Naruto was still curled up and asleep, like he was when Sasuke left the room two hours ago.

Sasuke sat beside him on the bed, and waited until Naruto senses his presence. The blonde cracked open a misty cerulean orb and peered up at the Uchiha. Sasuke smiled fondly at him.

"Naruto," he whispered softly, "do you remember this?" Sasuke slowly unwrapped the old kunai and held it out to the blonde. Naruto gazed at it curiously, then at Sasuke and cocked his head to the side. "This was the kunai that you gave me for our third month anniversary. It saved my life more than once, you know." Sasuke placed the kunai gently in the centre of the bed. Naruto sniffed it with caution and then he nuzzled it with his nose. Sasuke smiled, taking this for a sign that Naruto knew what it was.

The second item he showed Naruto was a picture of all nine rookies and their friends celebrating Naruto's first successful mission as Chuunin leader. Kakashi was beaming at the camera and standing near the silver haired man was Iruka-sensei, smiling happily. Sakura was laughing and Ino was scowling at Shikamaru for being so lazy (he was leaning on a tree somewhere to the left of the picture). The lazy genius had a faint smile on his face. Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Neji and Gaara were all there. Lee was flashing a thumbs up. At the middle of the group, Sasuke could see himself and Naruto. The blonde had another one of his crazy grins on and had his arm on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha in the picture was scowling.

Naruto made a purring sound when he saw the picture and took it in his teeth. He placed it gently on a pillow near him and laid his head down next to it. He opened one blue eye and gazed again at Sasuke. The offer was tempting, but he had to start cooking the dinner. With a sigh, Sasuke got up and walked towards the door. A small whine like sound came from Naruto.

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Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud crash coming from the bedroom. Loud shouts followed. The Uchiha raced towards the room and pushed the door open quickly. One hand was poised to draw a kunai if necessary. An orange blur bolted past his legs. 'Naruto….' Anger boiled inside Sasuke, even after all Naruto has been through the villagers still couldn't forget about Kyuubi locked inside the blonde.

Sasuke walked over to the open window and pulled it shut. That helped muffle most of the shouts of hate and disgust coming from villagers below the window. The raven haired boy turned away from the window, Naruto was much more important than a few incompetent fools.

A shattered plant vase lay on the floor, probably knocked over by Naruto in his haste to get out of the room. Sasuke gingerly picked up the Bonsai tree and its broken pot, making a mental note to buy a new one later.

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The raven haired boy found Naruto cuddled behind the couch in the living room. The blonde had pushed himself into a corner and was shaking badly. Sasuke slowly moved the couch away from the blonde. Naruto stiffened and whipped his head around, staring at Sasuke in blind fear. He started trying to scoot further away. Sasuke's heart clenched painfully.

Crawling on knees and hands, the Uchiha carefully made his way towards Naruto. He kept eye contact with the blonde.

Naruto cringed away from him, frightened and lost. His dull cerulean eyes stared at him, wide with fear. The blonde pushed himself flatter against the wall, still shaking. Sasuke reached out a hand, "Naruto…." As soon as pale fingers brushed a whiskered cheek, Naruto gave a small screech and bolted.

He jumped over the couch and ran clumsily on all fours to the other end of the room. Sasuke got up and slowly walked out of the room, making sure Naruto knew where he was.

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The Uchiha came back carrying a bowl of warm ramen and a spoon. He walked carefully towards Naruto, stopping halfway and paused to place the bowl on the floor. Sasuke took a few steps back and sat down.

The blonde had curled up near the living room table; he was still shaking slightly much to Sasuke's dismay. But Naruto had closed his eyes and his breathing was more even now than it was before.

Naruto's eyes lifted open and he stared at the ramen. By instinct, Naruto's nose twitched and he cautiously crawled towards the bowl. When the blonde got near enough, he gazed hopefully at Sasuke and nuzzled the warm bowl towards the onyx eyed boy.

Sasuke smiled and picked up the bowl offered to him. He walked over to a nearby wall and sat down with his back resting on the wall. Naruto bounced on all fours after him. Sasuke took hold of the spoon as the blonde inched his way on the raven haired boy's lap. Tanned fingers rested on pale knees as Sasuke fed Naruto with a spoon full of ramen. He learned to be patient.

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Naruto opened his eyes and squinted at the dim light. His limbs felt heavy, but lighter than the night before. The blonde raised his head and his sunny golden hair flopped messily. Naruto didn't care though. His attention was focused on the dark haired boy lying beside him on the bed. Sasuke Uchiha, his lover and boyfriend

Naruto painfully unfolded his arms and moved slowly towards the sleeping Uchiha. He stopped when he was beside the other boy and bent down to gaze tenderly at his face. It was more relaxed and happy than the blonde had ever seen.

Naruto had decided many nights ago that maybe this happening to him was worth all the pain if it meant Sasuke was finally starting to enjoy life.

"Naruto…."Sasuke's sleep filled mumble made Naruto frown, "don't…don't leave me." The child prodigy rolled to his side, pain rippling across his beautiful face.

Naruto leaned down and gently pressed his lips against the raven haired boy's. The blonde sensed a shiver run down his lover's spine as a low moan filled the quiet silence. Sasuke, even in his sleep, leaned towards the kiss and Naruto smiled against the raven haired boy's lips before retreating to his curled up form.

He knew Sasuke wanted him to get better and soon, but he wasn't ready yet. Right now, his limbs still felt too heavy and his mind was only clear in the deep nights. Naruto wiggled towards Sasuke and curled up beside him. He knew the Uchiha would wait, because after all he has learned to be patient.

A soft and loving purring filled the night air. And Sasuke smiled in his sleep, the pain erasing from his face.

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**End. **

I hope you liked my first one-shot, it's a bit sad I'll admit. Tell me what you think. Good or bad?

Horologii


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